Ray McGovern and the Sam Adams party have presented the Sam Adams award to Edward Snowden. I am delighted. This from Ray’s account of the event:
In brief remarks from his visitors, Snowden was reassured — first and foremost — that he need no longer be worried that nothing significant would happen as a result of his decision to risk his future by revealing documentary proof that the U.S. government was playing fast and loose with the Constitutional rights of Americans.
Even amid the government shutdown, Establishment Washington and the normally docile “mainstream media” have not been able to deflect attention from the intrusive eavesdropping that makes a mockery of the Fourth Amendment. Even Congress is showing signs of awaking from its torpor.
In the somnolent Senate, a few hardy souls have gone so far as to express displeasure at having been lied to by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and NSA Director Keith Alexander — Clapper having formally apologized for telling the Senate Intelligence Committee eavesdropping-related things that were, in his words, “clearly erroneous” and Alexander having told now-discredited whoppers about the effectiveness of NSA’s intrusive and unconstitutional methods in combating terrorism.
Coleen Rowley, the first winner of the Sam Adams Award (2002), cited some little-known history to remind Snowden that he is in good company as a whistleblower — and not only because of previous Sam Adams honorees. She noted that in 1773, Benjamin Franklin leaked confidential information by releasing letters written by then-Lt. Governor of Massachusetts Thomas Hutchinson to Thomas Whatley, an assistant to the British Prime Minister.
The letters suggested that it was impossible for the colonists to enjoy the same rights as subjects living in England and that “an abridgement of what are called English liberties” might be necessary. The content of the letters was so damaging to the British government that Benjamin Franklin was dismissed as colonial Postmaster General and had to endure an hour-long censure from British Solicitor General Alexander Wedderburn.
There has been a determined attempt by government to justify the need to intercept everybody’s communications, all the time. We have, yet again, had MI5 claim there are many thousand violent Islamic terrorists running around the UK, (yet somehow not managing to kill anybody). The cry of “paedophiles” is raised, as always. I can imagine them suggesting the entire population be shot dead, and justifying it as making sure they get the paedophiles. The tabloids would go with that.
There still had not been a single credible claim by the mainstream media that any named individual has died, despite that contingency being trotted out all the time as the reason Snowden and Manning should not have revealed state crimes and abuse of power. I am hopeful that, with the internet still largely free to the dissemination of information, out next massive whistleblower is only weeks away.
The dreadful cost of Christmas:
Cutting down of trees, mass slaughter of innocent turkeys, adultery at Christmas parties, people enjoying themselves… the list goes on.
And this annual diversion from the suffering of the Palestinians is allowed to continue, aided and abetted by the ZBC state broadcaster.
Time it was banned.
Looks like the B team habbatrolls have been given a little boost from the A team spambotolls. NSA spying on Angela Merchel is starting to break the memory foam apart. US-EURO trade deals under threat. ‘Certainly, we did not harm them, they got themselves into their own disgusting mess’.
These cowardly trolls perform their tricks knowing that Craig is absent and that there is no mod. How much lower can they go?
Maybe that shud be the next questin for Hubbacack? Oi, you, how much lower can you go? Answer the questin now.
Another pathetic attempt (failed) at impersonation here by Habbabkuk I guess.
~~~
Out for the evening so shutting down. Any posts that appear in my name are therefore NOT made by me.
Mary, a fairly standard response, ‘Someone disagrees with me, must be a paid troll.’ Afraid you are wrong. I do not work for the Home Office, any other British government department nor do I work for any department / shadowy front organisation of a foreign government. I just disagree with you because you tend to post unsubstantiated tosh for for a few of the regular commentators to mull over. Defending a radical cleric is low, even by your standards. If you wish to define my occupation there are several clues on recent threads.
Guano
Let me put it this way then.
Do you believe that the UK electorate would have been spared that ‘fucked-up Tory shite’ if …
… Clegg had not achieved enough votes to form a coalition?
… Clegg had formed a coalition with Labour?
… Clegg had not been elected LibDem leader?
… Clegg had not gone into politics?
… Labour had won the last election?
A Node
Put it another way. If someone else had caused the same massive headache of Zionist criminal warmongering Tories Hague and Cameron coming back into power by deceit and treachery after the defeat of Thatcherism, then I would be blaming them. As it is, it was Clegg who caused this problem. The rest of the population decided that Thatcherism must go, but he decided to bring it back again.
Would you rather I blamed the other people who didn’t do it instead?
“A foreign troll at work perhaps?”
Don’t be shy, Mary. If you want to accuse someone, do so with the courage of your convictions. If you’re keen to find out who posted in your name, ask Jon to do a quick check when he visits next.
Not always anonymous –
http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2013/02/celebrating-correas-re-election/#comment-394302
eBay sorry over Holocaust listings and remove items very quickly.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-24792641
Its like it never happened.
An old technique, when in trouble invent all they can. Something is afoot to start shaking the bones at the world again.
Note the last paragraph in the article. Never mind eighty million were murdered and killed in WWII.
Habbabkuk, acknowledged. A rare mistake, unlikely to be revisited.
The forum has slid somewhat since my post about the JFK assassination and a theory of Howard Donahue’s that has been further advanced by retired Oz detective, Colin McLaren, in a documentary that was aired for the first time last night.
Donahue’s theory was detailed in the book –
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortal_Error:_The_Shot_That_Killed_JFK
I also have my own take on some of the details. Apologies for the verbiage.
Viewing enhanced versions of the Zapruder film of the assasination, it clearly shows a forward jolt of JFK’s head at the moment of impact of the fatal head shot, a forward projection of human tissue from the exit wound and a significant delay before his bodily reaction backwards – all of which is consistent with the rear shot assertion of Donahue’s theory.
I have also seen Secret Service film shot from the follow-up vehicle leading up to the motorcade turn into Dealey Plaza but no further, as the film was either not taken or has since been buried or destroyed. It shows how close the SS vehicle was to the presidential limo and provides a valuable point of view that helps one visualise what possibly happened.
I’m inclined to believe that SS agent George Hickey, travelling in the SS vehicle, was unaware that his accidentally discharged round connected with the president because he wasn’t looking in the direction of his rifle’s fire as he lost his footing in the back of the vehicle when it jerked; that he believed that the president was under fire and already hit by Oswald’s second shot; but he was unaware of the extent of the president’s injuries and therefore had no reason to believe that his own fire struck the president, until later.
It is only when the president was examined and treated at Dallas’ Parkland Memorial Hospital that the group of SS agents were able to discuss the incident in detail amongst themselves and in the course of sharing what they knew, did they realise that Hickey probably also shot the president.
The driver of the SS vehicle was in a unique position, looking forward at the presidential vehicle as he followed very closely, to simultaneously hear the muzzle blast of Hickey’s AR-15 rifle immediately behind him, and see the explosive head wound suffered by the president as the other agents were looking outward for further gunshots. His account of the incident would have provided the initial suspicion that Hickey shot the president.
It could have then been in response to this realisation that the Secret Service decided to insist on the movement of the president’s corpse to the Bethesda Naval Hospital in D.C. for an autopsy that could be managed with political sensitivity under the control of federal authorities (ie themselves).
As information of Oswald’s arrest, recovery of his Carcano rifle and cartridges, and autopsy results came in, the Secret Service had sufficient reason to believe that they were implicated in the president’s death due to negligence and needed the support of the Kennedy family to bury all evidence of their catastrophic failure to protect the president. The Kennedy’s obliged because they knew it was an accident and they also needed to maintain good relations with the Secret Service knowing that agents were well aware of the many indiscretions of the Kennedy men.
With an ambitious Robert Kennedy intending to follow in his brother’s footsteps, it would not augur well to antagonise the Secret Service. Pinning all of the blame on Oswald also had value in muting extreme right accusations that the Kennedy’s were communists – much like Obama is often accused of being a far left socialist. Being the victim of a known communist assassin undermined right wing criticism.
. . .
I am also now disinclined to believe conspiracy theories that posit Lee Harvey Oswald as a member of a plot organised by sophisticated enemies of the president. Given the fact that Oswald’s rifle was a shitty mail-order, bolt action army rifle, based on a design from the late 1800s, with a cheap scope and cartridges that were not designed for kill shots, it makes no sense that a well organised group should rely on such crappy hardware for a once-only chance of killing the president of the United States. Some theories claim that Oswald was a patsy, providing cover for the kill shot. Well, it has been established that Oswald did indeed plug the president with that shitty rifle so it makes no sense to complicate the plot by denying him a decent fully automatic rifle and frangible rounds to get the job done with certainty.
Anyway, I hope this latest development entertains interested conspiracy theorists as it does me.
Sorry about Dad’s outbust earlier.
Gary’s just emailed to say he’s just been spotted outside the 99p Store on Victoria Road shouting something about lowering the tone or something stupid. He’s going to leave him to it tonight so at least that might keep him occupied and provide some respite here. But don’t bank on it.
It’s good to be back again in Wathafekia, swinging in my wangaki-fibre hammock breathing in the scent of the tocabbo and listening to the deep hum of the gurtbugga-bees while the chatter of voices ebbs and flows. Everyone’s painting up for tonight’s dancing. The Othafekas pitched camp last night down by the Big Bend. That means there’s going to be a whole lot of noisy trading going on for the next few days. They always have the best salt from their summer camp on the flat-lands by the Great Ocean and they always arrive just before the popii-fish start their annual run.
…
Back in Occupied Palestine. Attempts to destroy Palestinian people by destroying their livelihoods.
http://jfjfp.com/?p=51244
Given the history of just such a pattern of acts against Jews in 1930s Germany it is hard to comprehend how people whose grandparents were the victims can behave like this. To me, the picture showing an IDF soldier guarding a digger beside a pile of uprooted olive trees is just heartbreaking.
Hats off to the IDF soldiers who have the guts to blow the whistle.
http://www.breakingthesilence.org.il/
Anon
4 Nov, 2013 – 2:55 pm
“More on Brand and those “shoots of hope”:
“£15m Brand’s very unsocialist business empire”
Anon,
Russell Brand made it from the gutter to wealth and fame. If you have wealth and fame in the capitalist system, you get interviewed by Jeremy Paxman, if not you don’t.
He pointed this out to Paxman during the interview.
What the Tories fear most is someone espousing a more egalitarian society who has a voice in the media. He must be undermined.
Don’t forget; hypocrisy is the trademark of the right.
“hypocrisy is the trademark of the right.”
_______________________
If that is so, Mr Scorgie (welcome back, by the way! have you been doing time..?), then the left should surely be sued for trademark infringement!
*********************
Always look on the bright side of life!
Habbabkuk, hah!
As a man of Jewish descent, I don’t like jokes about us Jews.
I think they often cement prejudices and misinterpretations of the Jewish people and culture.
But, every now and then, even I enjoy a good laugh and feel that I shouldn’t be so serious about everything some call it looking on the bright side of life.
So I have a very funny joke about the holocaust here, if anyone wants to buy it?
Kerry hopes for democracy in Egypt while urging Saudi to join the Geneva talks to “stop violent extremist groups” !!
It would be fucking hilarious if it didn’t involve lots of people dying…
So much for the 99p Shop! Maybe he’s got his laptop with him.
…
Lies, damned lies, and statistics…
“…since George W. Bush took office for his second term in 2004, the strikes have killed anywhere between 2,500 and 3,600 individuals, and that between 416 and 948 of those individuals were civilians.
The White House claims the number of civilians killed by drones is much lower than that, though it has declined to release its own number for national security reasons. The administration considers any “military-age males” within a strike zone to be combatants.”
http://rt.com/usa/obama-book-drones-killing-198/
Great response, Habbabkuk.
Let’s be clear on Russell Brand, Doug. This £15m man, who calls profit a dirty word, who calls for revolution, social egalitarianism and the end of economic disparity, secured purchase of his $2.5m luxury Beverly Hills home almost the same day as he gave his revolutionary interview to Paxman. In addition, he uses a specialist tax avoidance firm to ensure he pays as little tax as is legally possible. He has undermined himself, Doug. It doesn’t take anyone else to do it.
Harboursluts
Your comments are beyond the pale and you should resign. There is no place in a modern Nazi party for comments like that.
Goldystein at 8:19 pm.
Go on then. I’m all ears.
A Node:
Policy is created by shady internationalists who preserve the illusion of democracy by varying the label of those they appoint to deliver that ‘fucked-up Tory shite’.
Brilliant definition of Politics.
To make a cup of perfect politics every time, Just add shite.
@ Exexpat,
Twinkle, twinkle little star…
“At least 960,000 Jews were killed in Auschwitz. Other victims included approximately 74,000 Poles, 21,000 Roma (Gypsies), and 15,000 Soviet prisoners of war; and 10,000-15,000 members of other nationalities (Soviet civilians, Czechs, Yugoslavs, French, Germans, and Austrians).” LINK.
I’m not good at numbers, but that doesn’t add up to 4 million now, does it. The question thus arises, how do you ‘un-murder’ 2,5 million people and where did they go? LINK
“Israel is marketing itself to many of its Arab enemies as the responsible adult in the Middle East, a regional superpower that can be counted on at least to safeguard its own interests. And the logic goes that if Israeli and Saudi interests align – both sides are open to bargaining on all sorts of issues – a trustworthy enemy is better than an untrustworthy ally.” – Alley Oop
Makes you barf a little in your mouth, doesn’t it?
Thanks for that fascinating alternative theory on the JFK assassination.
Have you an alternative theory on 911? The official account and indeed its construction seems rather bizarre too.
Or perhaps you need another 40 years to cobble together something which takes account of all the curiousities emanating from that strange day.
Are you planning anything on the Bin Laden assassination? There’s another official account that could do with another 40 years reworking, at least!
Anything on the Gunpowder Plot, or the Reichstag, while we’re at it?
I so really really want to believe that all the horrible things that happen are just cock-ups and accidents, and nothing at all to do with the thieving psychos running the show.
^^^^^^ Agreed.
Perhaps the weakest link needs to start thinking about the al-Hilli conspiracy too. France have released a sketch of the motorcyclist:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24809613
“I’m not good at numbers, but that doesn’t add up to 4 million now, does it. The question thus arises, how do you ‘un-murder’ 2,5 million people and where did they go?”
____________________
Perhaps Daniel Rich isn’t good at numbers, but he seems to be quite good at omitting relevant information. Perhaps he should consult the Wikipedia entry* for “Nazi extermination camps”, where he would learn that the total for the four other main ones – Treblinka, Belzec, Sobibor and Chelmno – is given as 1.950.000.
Hope that contributes to his adult education course in maths (and, as a bonus, history).
Comments welcome, as always.
* I refer to Wikipedia as this is the source for his Auschwitz figures.
**********************
Always look on the bright side of life!
Sofia @ 7;53pm
Thanks for those links, that they are destroying Hundreds of thousands of Olive trees is indeed a heart breaking crime, many of these trees are hundreds of years old, and the bastards have Razed over 800,000 Palestinian olive trees since 1967, Sickening
http://mondoweiss.net/2013/10/palestinian-equivalent-destroying.html
If i may…. some data from you’re link….
By Amira Hass, Ha’aretz
October 28, 2013
A document obtained by Haaretz details a series of incidents that have been kept confidential. Defense officials are content that the information has been kept secret for so long and that the leak of a few details on social media hasn’t caused a fuss. The officials clearly appreciate reporters’ responsibility and restraint on the issue – they haven’t exploited the right of freedom of information.
The following are the incidents in the secret document – all of them in the West Bank in September and October.
Sept. 11: 500 trees burned on land belonging to the village of Deir al-Khatab.
Sept. 15: 17 olive trees chopped down on land belonging to the village of Kafr Laqif.
Sept. 17: 18 olive trees chopped down on land belonging to the village of Kafr Laqif.
Sept. 20: 27 olive trees burned in Kafr Qaddum.
Sept. 21: 70 trees chopped down in Kafr Qaddum.
Oct. 2: Serious damage to several olive trees on land belonging to the Raba’i family.
Oct. 2: Serious damage to about 30 olive trees in the village of Jitt.
Oct. 3: 48 olive trees of the Shatat family chopped down.
Oct. 5: Serious damage to 130 olive trees of the Fukha family.
Oct. 5: 15 olive trees chopped down and olives stolen in the village of Deir Sharaf.
Oct. 7: Serious damage to about 60 olive trees and olives stolen in the village of Jitt.
Oct. 7: Serious damage to eight olive trees on land belonging to the village of Ras Karkar.
Oct. 7: 35 olive trees in the village of Far’ata chopped down and about a quarter of the olive crop stolen.
Oct. 8: About 400 olive trees in the village of Jalud set on fire.
Oct. 13-14: Olive trees and grapevines vandalized in the village of Far’ata.
Oct. 20: Jewish Israelis from the settlement of Yitzhar attacked Palestinian farmers who, with the help of volunteers from Rabbis for Human Rights, had been harvesting olives. The attackers used iron rods, clubs and stones. Two farmers and two volunteers – a 71-year-old man and an 18-year-old woman – were injured.
Sofia a couple of weeks ago i came across the video of the above attack –
http://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2013/10/22/video-masked-settler-beats-palestinian-with-metal-pipe-by-972mag/
Cowardly evil little scumbags… old men and young women…Fcking Raging at all this
““…since George W. Bush took office for his second term in 2004, the strikes have killed anywhere between 2,500 and 3,600 individuals, and that between 416 and 948 of those individuals were civilians.”
___________________
Over 9 years, so an average of 400 per year if one takes the higher figure.
The WHO estimates road traffic injuries resulting in death as follows :
Afghanistan : ca. 10.000
Pakistan : ca. 31.000
These are annual figures, of course.
I call for a petition condemning all manufacturers of motor vehicles, as well as the governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan, for egregious violations of the most fundamental of Human Rights, viz, the right to life.
******************************
Always look on the bright side of life!
@ Fujisan
Thank you for those figures on the destruction of olive trees in the Occupied Territories.
Would it be possible for you to supply us with figures for the total number of olive trees in 1967 and the total number of olive trees as of today or thereabouts?